PT-1 "Recognizing That God Is" (Acts 17:22-23)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2018 11:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “Recognizing That God Is

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 17:22-23

            Message of the verses:  “22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ’TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”

            I want to begin this SD by looking at the first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Notice from this very first verse that there is no argument for the existence of God the text simply says “In the beginning God,” and so as we look at this text God is there at the beginning of His creation, and always has been there and always will be there.  This verse is a great problem for those who believe in evolution, for evolution cannot say how things began, yet the Bible simply says “In the beginning God.”

            Paul admits to the people of Athens that they are very religious for he could see “gods” in the form of idols all around the city.  And I suppose that these men who worshiped these idols may have thought that perhaps they may have missed one and so the made an altar “To An Unknown God.”  Paul took this opportunity to show these men who this unknown God was as he begins his preaching to them.

            People who deny that God exist cannot know Him as Hebrews 11:6 states “he who comes to God must believe that He is.”  They at least had that going for them.

            As we read God’s Word, the Bible we can see different passages that reveal powerful and convincing evidence for God’s existence.  Here is one from Psalm 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”  Romans 1:19 says “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” 

            John MacArthur writes “The law of cause and effect argues for God’s existence.  Common sense dictates that every effect must have a cause.  Yet there cannot be an endless chain of such causes.  Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause.  Theologians refer to that line of reasoning as the cosmological argument.  (For an exposition of this form of cosmological argument, see Norman L. Geisler and Winfried Corduan, Philosophy of Religion [Grand Rapids:  Baker, 1988], 175ff.)  An alternate form of the cosmological argument runs as follows:  Everything that begins to exist has a cause.  The universe began to exist.  Therefore the universe must have a cause.  (For a defense of this form of cosmological argument, see William Lane Craig, Apologetics [Chicago:  Moody, 1984], 73ff.; Francis J. Beckwith, “Philosophy and Belief of God:  The resurgence of Theism in Philosophical Circles,” The Master’s Seminary Journal 2 [Spring 1991]: 72ff.)”

            As we look at Hebrews 3:4 “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God,” we see that the Bible acknowledges the principle of cause and effect.  A house does require an efficient cause; as it would be absurd to put a pile of building material, say in the path of a Tornado or a hurricane and then expect the storm to make the building material into a house, or how about having the unabridged dictionary be made in a print shop explosion.  These things cannot happen, for God has put order in the universe, and this certainly is not order.

            John MacArthur writes the following to show that nature also displays remarkable evidence of design:  “From the baffling complexity of the cell, to the miraculous transformation of caterpillars into butterflies, to the precise engineering of the earth to support life, examples of design are everywhere.  Botanist Alan Radcliffe Smith cites one:

‘The Lady’s Slipper Orchid is an example of a 2-stamen orchid.  As the common name implies, the lip is very distinctive, being shaped like a shoe or slipper.  The inside of the lip is very smooth and this, together with the inrolled edges, prevents the easy departure of an insect visitor by the same way in which it came.  Instead, it is forced by the shape of the lip and the nature of the surface to move towards the back, or point of attachment, where there are two small exits.  In order to gain these exits, the insect must first pass beneath a stigma and then brush past one or other of the two stamens, which deposits pollen onto it, after which it is free to fly off.  If it then goes to another slipper, it will pollinate it with the pollen gained from the previous one; the second slipper will not be on the same plant as only one flower is open on a given plant at any time, and thus cross-fertilization is very efficiently effected…The complexity of interaction between plant and insect is truly staggering and, for those who will see, it clearly bears the hallmark of the all-wise creator.’”

            We will continue to look at this section, God willing, in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that there is order in the universe, and that order comes from an all knowing all wise God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give wisdom to different members of our family to show us which road to take to bring glory to God as He leads us through some trying situations.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Agur and King Lemuel.”  (I have heard that King Lemuel could be Solomon.)

Today’s Bible question:  “Curtains in the portable tabernacle were made of what material?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/15/2018 11:51 AM